Encouragement EXTREME Event!
January 29 - 30, 2010
Greensboro, NC
Encouragement goes Extreme!
Gather with us this winter as we seek a new level of passionate pursuit of God and the encouragement of our sisters who are walking along the same path. We don't just benefit from our relationships with other women, we need them. And encouragement isn't just a nice idea given in the Bible, it's commanded; and it's vital to both the encourager and the encouraged! It's meant to be lived out in flesh and bone, and in spirit and truth; and we think it's time we took it to the extreme!
All three general sessions will include powerful prayer and worship, along with lots of laughter, fun, and some surprises! Our speakers will share from the deep places in their hearts about Absolute Boundless Abandon.
We will seek to make deep connections as we share our dreams, tell our stories, dry each other's tears, and celebrate each others victories!
REGISTER NOW
January 29 - 30, 2010
Embassy Suites
Greensboro, NC
(I-40 and Hwy 68 very close to the GSO airport)
Price for this conference is only $119!
This includes over-night stay, all conference sessions and materials, breakfast and lunch on Saturday.
(Space is limited.)
Registration begins at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, January 29
Conference concludes at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 30
Our Speakers:
Luann Prater, Encouragement Cafe radio show host and Proverbs 31 speaker
Carol Davis, of 106.9 The Light
Ramona Davis, Encouragement Cafe radio show co-host
Worship Leader and Musical Guest:
Pam Allen
"Sneak Preview" of some of the extras we have planned!
Friday Night Extra: After the general session, stick around, kick back, and relax during our "Coffee House" time; and enjoy great live music, too!
Saturday Afternoon Extra: The conference will wrap up as you all become our "Co-Hosts" for a live broadcast of the Encouragement Cafe radio show!
What to Expect...? The Unexpected!
Maybe you've never experienced absolute boundless abandon; He wants you to.
Maybe you've never pictured yourself as radical; He sees you that way.
Maybe you've never thought that God would ask you to step into something more; He's asking NOW!
Not only does He want us to live victoriously, He wants us to display that victory and draw others to Him!
Join us for Encouragement EXTREME as we explore how!
REGISTER NOW
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Empty Box
Every year, under my tree, I place an empty box.
It's beautifully wrapped in maroon velvet with a gold ribbon. But, it's empty. From the outside, it looks like the most extravagant gift...even though, it's empty. It still might be the most expensive.
I found this box several years ago at a Christian bookstore. It was on clearance and came with a beautiful poem...that the dog ate. For real. :) But, the point of the poem, and of the box served as a great reminder. In the midst of all the gift giving and receiving, there is one gift that Jesus wants from you this year. It's whatever is keeping you from getting closer to Him.
For some of us...it's bitterness or anger...resentment...unconfessed sin...our will or our plans, sadness, grief, fear, worry...and that's exactly what He's asking for Christmas this year. It's the thing that has taken way more of your time and energy this year. It's the thing that has kept you up late at night and distracted you from your day to day activities. He wants it. ALL. Every bit of it.
And I have an idea that you know exactly what it is right now. So, when are you going to give that up? I know, it's hard. I am right there with you. I have more than my simple little box could hold. But, let's give Jesus what He really wants this Christmas.
Are you with me? Wrap an empty box and put it under your tree this year. Let it represent your gift to Him. And know that by giving it all to Him...you receive the greatest gift. Freedom.
It's beautifully wrapped in maroon velvet with a gold ribbon. But, it's empty. From the outside, it looks like the most extravagant gift...even though, it's empty. It still might be the most expensive.
I found this box several years ago at a Christian bookstore. It was on clearance and came with a beautiful poem...that the dog ate. For real. :) But, the point of the poem, and of the box served as a great reminder. In the midst of all the gift giving and receiving, there is one gift that Jesus wants from you this year. It's whatever is keeping you from getting closer to Him.
For some of us...it's bitterness or anger...resentment...unconfessed sin...our will or our plans, sadness, grief, fear, worry...and that's exactly what He's asking for Christmas this year. It's the thing that has taken way more of your time and energy this year. It's the thing that has kept you up late at night and distracted you from your day to day activities. He wants it. ALL. Every bit of it.
And I have an idea that you know exactly what it is right now. So, when are you going to give that up? I know, it's hard. I am right there with you. I have more than my simple little box could hold. But, let's give Jesus what He really wants this Christmas.
Are you with me? Wrap an empty box and put it under your tree this year. Let it represent your gift to Him. And know that by giving it all to Him...you receive the greatest gift. Freedom.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Giving Thanks
I suppose there is one Thanksgiving that is harder for every one of us than others. Maybe the empty chair around the table or the innocence lost that makes it so. You may have never experienced it...or this might be your year. Whatever the case, I believe we all have one. A time where thanks comes a little harder. It's not that we aren't thankful. It's just that tears often replace the nouns and verbs that once so easily fell off our tongue. The sparkle of the Christmas lights intensifies every emotion in the winter of our souls. And the cold wind that once made us huddle close together reminds us of the absence in our hearts.
In that moment, is where I believe we discover true Thanksgiving. When we can't connect all the dots and see the answer. When life doesn't fit in a neat little package trimmed by a bright, crisp bow. When we can't smile for the Christmas picture. When all we can do is whisper our thanks, the God of heaven, bends low to read the intent of our heart. And somehow He knows, that we are thankful for the most basic things. The next breath. The strength to get out of bed. The promise that the darkness won't last forever. Somehow I think He designed it that way. To get us all back to the basics of life. For in losing it all, is where we find the only things we ever really had. And for that, we can give thanks.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
The 9 year Bible Study
I start strong. Really...I do. It's the finishing that I have a problem with.
9 years ago, my mentor, Bonnie brought me a Bible Study called Breaking Free by Beth Moore. She said, "I think this would be really good! Let's do it!!!"
I jumped in with both feet. I highlighted, I filled in the blanks. I even took time to memorize the Scripture. And then....
It got hard. I mean really hard. It asked hard questions. It challenged me to let go of things I had held onto for YEARS. It made me mad at times. All in all...I didn't like Beth Moore very much because she was, "eating my lunch." (That's southern for...she really had my number.)
So, I quit. I would show her. I would make lame excuses like being too busy, have overcommitted, had to wash my hair, refill my ink pen....blah, blah, blah. Anything to keep me from getting back into that study.
But, God kept putting it in front of me. (He is very persistent.) Over the last nine years, I would do a chapter here and there...a day or two....and then I would get to another hard place and quit again. I know. P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C. I agree wholeheartedly.
So, I just had to laugh when a couple of months ago, I was talking with a new friend, Luann and she asked if I had ever done the Breaking Free Bible Study. "Well...part of it..." I answered.
She was on her head for me to finish. And so I set out again. 9 YEARS LATER.
So, I am happy to report that today, I finished Breaking Free. I think that ought to at least get me a phone call from Beth Moore. Don't you??
And, if you doubt that God has a sense of humor....I got a postcard in the mail the other day telling me that there was a NEW Breaking Free Bible Study available!!!!
Which you can order here:
Seriously...if you haven't done Breaking Free, I would recommend it. I think one of the reasons I had such a hard time finishing it was that I always thought that being free meant a life of ease...that I would come to a point where I would never struggle or experience heartache. Not so. You can be free. But, it's a daily battle...but in the end, we win a prize that nothing on earth can compare.
So...dive in. Order. And see if you can beat my record....a ten week Bible study in 9 years. I am sure you can....
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Alone
Have you ever been alone? I mean desperately alone?
I am a people person. I don't really like being alone. But, it seems to be something I am doing a lot lately...and I think God might be behind it all.
One day this week, I found myself in a rough spot. Struggling just to keep my head above water. I was going under...and I knew I needed someone to help me. I called. I text. I twittered. I e-mailed. Nothing. Everybody was busy. I fell apart. I was desperately alone.
I cried. Then, I cried out. "Why, God? Is it too much to ask?? I need help, here."
"I AM."
Yeah. I know. Doesn't seem intensely profound or intelligent, but, it's where I found myself.
God designed the day for me to be alone. To busy my rescuers so that I would look to my one and only Deliverer.
Think about it. The paralytic had friends that carried him to Jesus...but, the miracle happened when he was face to face with Christ. The woman with the issue of blood was surrounded by a crowd but had to reach out and touch the hem of His garment...all by herself. Even Jesus, in His last hours before the crucifixion, went to the garden to pray...by himself.
There are truths that God certainly speaks through friends. But, there are deeply intense personal things that He wants to work out with me when I am by myself. But, to tell you the truth, I often keep my appointment calendar full to avoid quiet time when He can speak. Because, I know what He's going to say...and it's not always what I want to hear.
So, today....I am turning off the cell phone. I am spending time away from work. I am not texting or tweeting for awhile to simply be quiet. (Hard for a loudmouth like me...)
Shh...I think there is something He would like to say to you too.
You are loved.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
From Today's Streams in the Desert
Lie Still and Trust
"I had fainted unless…!(Ps. 27:13).
"FAINT NOT!"
How great is the temptation at this point! How the soul sinks, the heart grows sick, and the faith staggers under the keen trials and testings which come into our lives in times of special bereavement and suffering.
"I cannot bear up any longer, I am fainting under this providence. What shall I do? God tells me not to faint. But what can one do when he is fainting?"
What do you do when you are about to faint physically? You cannot do anything. You cease from your own doings. In your faintness, you fall upon the shoulder of some strong loved one. You lean hard. You rest. You lie still and trust.
It is so when we are tempted to faint under affliction. God's message to us is not, "Be strong and of good courage," for He knows our strength and courage have fled away. But it is that sweet word, "Be still, and know that I am God."
Hudson Taylor was so feeble in the closing months of his life that he wrote a dear friend: "I am so weak I cannot write; I cannot read my Bible; I cannot even pray. I can only lie still in God's arms like a little child, and trust."
This wondrous man of God with all his spiritual power came to a place of physical suffering and weakness where he could only lie still and trust.
And that is all God asks of you, His dear child, when you grow faint in the fierce fires of affliction. Do not try to be strong. Just be still and know that He is God, and will sustain you, and bring you through.
"God keeps His choicest cordials for our deepest faintings."
"I had fainted unless…!(Ps. 27:13).
"FAINT NOT!"
How great is the temptation at this point! How the soul sinks, the heart grows sick, and the faith staggers under the keen trials and testings which come into our lives in times of special bereavement and suffering.
"I cannot bear up any longer, I am fainting under this providence. What shall I do? God tells me not to faint. But what can one do when he is fainting?"
What do you do when you are about to faint physically? You cannot do anything. You cease from your own doings. In your faintness, you fall upon the shoulder of some strong loved one. You lean hard. You rest. You lie still and trust.
It is so when we are tempted to faint under affliction. God's message to us is not, "Be strong and of good courage," for He knows our strength and courage have fled away. But it is that sweet word, "Be still, and know that I am God."
Hudson Taylor was so feeble in the closing months of his life that he wrote a dear friend: "I am so weak I cannot write; I cannot read my Bible; I cannot even pray. I can only lie still in God's arms like a little child, and trust."
This wondrous man of God with all his spiritual power came to a place of physical suffering and weakness where he could only lie still and trust.
And that is all God asks of you, His dear child, when you grow faint in the fierce fires of affliction. Do not try to be strong. Just be still and know that He is God, and will sustain you, and bring you through.
"God keeps His choicest cordials for our deepest faintings."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
